This invention relates to an automatic telephone answering system in which a calling party's message recorded on the message recording tape can be remotely reproduced, and more particularly to a remote control device for such an automatic telephone answering system of the accumulating type in which only newly recorded messages on the message recording tape are remotely reproduced with accuracy.
Remote control devices of this type can be roughly divided into systems, an erasing system and an accumulating system. In the erasing system, no matter how many times the automatic telephone answering system is remotely operated, the message recording tape is returned to its initial position to be in a standby mode at the end of the remote operation. Therefore, in this system, only newly recorded messages on the tape can be reproduced whenever it is remotely operated. However, whenever the remote reproduction of a message is effected, the calling party's message which has been recorded is erased, and accordingly it is impossible to reproduce that message again. On the other hand, in the accumulating system, the amount of rewinding the tape is determined by a period of time during which a remote control signal is continuously transmitted to the system. Accordingly, the user must determine the amount of rewinding of the tape by guess. That is, to distinguish the part of the tape which has been reproduced before from the new part of the tape which is to be reproduced, he employs a method in which after the tape is subjected to trial reproduction, the tape is rewound by the remote control signal again. Thus, the accumulating system is disadvantageous in that the remote reproduction is rather troublesome and inaccurate.